How I learned to like Twitter after

vehemently hating everything about it (hint: I

found other car crazy people)

May 20, 2009

Chris Baccus
Social Media Participation Junkie
What is Twitter in One Dumb Slide

 140 word micro-blogging site

 You can “follow” friends, co-workers, brands, celebrities, “experts”, and a lot of people
you don’t know

 It can be about sharing mundane nonsense, but that is pointless

 It’s more about sharing knowledge, interesting finds, and bit-sized thoughts
Twitter Stats

 Twitter Traffic Grows 1,382% In A Year (Feb. 08 vs. Feb. 09)

 17 million unique visitors in April 2009

 Ranks as third largest social network

 Average user spends 7.9 minutes a day

 53% of users are female

Twitter U.S. Adoption

60% of Twitter users fail to return

in one month.
Index of Twitter Users by Age Group
My First Few Weeks

Followed a bunch of “social media experts”

Insight: Massive Diminishing Return. Follow no more than 3

Finally Some Good Advice

Need to answer: Why are you on Twitter?

Professional Reason: To engage better with automotive minded people, brands, experts to
gain marketing insights or trends and to promote my Auto Marketing
Blog.

Personal Reason: I love talking cars

Insight: Find people who share your interests

Communicate Effectively

 Communicate value

 It’s okay to promote your blog just

don’t ONLY do that

 Don’t just share links - share why

Insight: Remember everything you say is public

My Tweet Cloud

I average 5.7 Tweets per day

My “Follow” Strategy

Sometimes followed
Followed auto commentators who engaged
brands, dealers and with those accounts
publications

Followed people and

websites I frequented

Purged banal users and

“copy/paste cats”

Insight: If you don’t find value, purge

Why are they
Whyfollowing me?
are they following me?
Why are they following me?
How I Engage

 Flock
 Tweetie
 TweetGrid
 BigTweet
Autos on Twitter
Some of My Favorite Auto Follows
Auto Public Relations on Twitter

Hailed as an effective way to monitor reputation, buzz, opinions, trends

Comcast and JetBlue are the darlings of PR Twittering

Auto Community on Twitter

A chat all about cars, every

Wed. Night from 8-10pm
EST
Auto Contest Buzz - Nissan Cube Canada
Contest Effectiveness

Too Early to Tell

 Negative: Most of the banter is less about the brand and more about those wanting to
get votes for a contest

 Positive: Some coverage is done by traditional and online media that gets the brand
mentioned in new ways

 Buzz Measures Misleading: When analyzing the success of a contest try to isolate
discussions about the product, campaign, and brand to gage if it was a success.
Who Is Using Twitter Most Effectively for Marketing?

My Vote: Volvo XC60

Why? Promotion of ride and drive events, engages with community, searches for those
commenting on Volvo, shares information beyond just their launch.

Extra-Credit…
Volvo’s YouTube Twitter Ad
http://www.thevolvotwitterad.com/

Used DoubleClick's rich media dynamic data feed capability

Largest expandable unit ever placed on YouTube's home page

Volvo is about humanity. Twitter is about humanity.

An Effective Campaign Using Twitter

1. Initial Goal: Stay connected to intenders by promoting test-drive events

An Effective Campaign Using Twitter

2. Found Natural Ways to Engage with Twitter Community

An Effective Campaign Using Twitter

3. Engagement in Volvo Related Tweets in a Welcoming Manner

And Lastly… Twitter is not a Strategy

Delivery

Strategy Message
Questions?
 Thank You
Christopher Baccus
http://www.automarketingblog.com